#GuptaCourt: NPA declares Ajay Gupta a 'fugitive from justice'

Ajay Gupta has been declared a fugitive from justice. File picture: Chris Collingridge

Johannesburg - The National Director of Public Prosecutions has declared Ajay Gupta, one of the three Gupta brothers accused of corrupt links to ousted president Jacob Zuma, a "fugitive from justice" on Thursday after he failed to hand himself in to police.

"I've been advised by my prosecuting team that Mr. Ajay Gupta is a fugitive from justice," NPA boss Shaun Abrahams told Reuters. He did not provide further details.

Ajay had been expected to hand himself over to the Hawks after a raid on the Gupta compound on Wednesday in which three people, including a Gupta family member, were arrested.

On the same day the Hawks made five other arrests related to the Estina dairy farm project through which the Gupta family allegedly syphoned around R30 million which was meant to aid emerging black farmers into their own coffers. A number of Free State agriculture officials have also ben implicated in the scandal.